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The embattled old guard of the Brooklyn Dems defied a court order to install their new leader — who has been accused of deed theft and palled around with a judge who was forced to resign after being slapped with criminal charges, The Post has learned.
Brooklyn party brass celebrated late Sunday night after the handpicked successor of embattled outgoing chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn — Nikki Lucas, an assemblywoman from the 60th district — was voted as the next chair of the Kings County Democratic Party.
That’s despite a judge’s order, spurring a flurry of legal filings by a rival group of Dems attempting to remake party leadership.
A state Supreme Court justice tried to put the kibosh early last week on electing new leadership while the ongoing legal brouhaha between the party and a reform wing of the party duke it out over who truly holds the reins of the largest Democratic County organizations in the country.
The judge is expected to rule in the coming weeks on whether any of Bichotte-Hermelyn’s long-shot political maneuvering and crowning of Lucas as her successor will stand.
But The Post uncovered that the new party chair — at least for now — was one of eight people named in a 2021 deed theft suit, claiming that the $3.4 million-valued Southern Baptist Church in East New York was transferred for free, according to court records.
Lucas was repped by former judge Ed King, the then-lawyer who was charged by the feds in May in an alleged $5 million escrow sham, records show.
The two’s connection goes back years, with Lucas helping King get elected as judge. She was one of the few who King thanked during his victory speech in 2022, insiders recalled.
King was also listed on the deed, as well as the attorney for the purchasers of the property, the filings show.
A judge sided with the trustees of the church and reversed the sale before the case was frozen after one of the defendants died.
King is also accused of lying to investors about his inability to return $6.5 million wired to his bank account as part of their “proof of liquidity” and has only coughed up $1.5 million of the original funds as part of a separate federal criminal case, which forced him to step down last year.
Bichotte-Hermelyn announced last week that she would not seek reelection and would step down as party chair.
The longtime Brooklyn Dem had appeared to lose control of the Kings County Dems months prior after federal agents raided her house as part of an unknown probe.
A Post expose also found the county machine raked in at least $190,000 in questionable judicial contributions.
However, Bichotte-Hermelyn has been working furiously to drum up support for her successor, with insiders revealing that she had been making calls since late last week to set up a new executive board — despite a judge ordering her and her cronies to stand down.
That defiance led to her being served with an order of contempt leaving court Tuesday.
“I just got served with a contempt order signed by a Judge for invoking my constitutional rights. Punished for the 5th. Ignored for the 14th. Erased for the 13th #Justice is on Life Support—and somebody’s pulling the plug,” Bichotte-Hermelyn posted on X, in a selfie with the court order.
An Oct. 19 hearing will be held to find whether Brooklyn Democratic leadership will be punished over their last-minute leadership vote.
Lucas and King didn’t respond to requests for comment.
